Strata
The ACG Strathallan magazine Term 1, 2019
Year 7 and 8 Citizenship Award It is the responsibility of every school community to encourage young people to become confident, connected, actively involved lifelong learners, a responsibility clearly articulated in the New Zealand Curriculum document that states schools should “enable students to participate in a changing society as informed, confident, and responsible citizens”. (Ministry of Education, 2007) Schools should therefore provide a range of opportunities for students to develop citizenship competencies through participating in and contributing to aspects of school life. It was with this in mind that we introduced the Year 7 and 8 Citizenship Award this year. Deputy Principal Robyn Pryor shares the thinking behind the Citizenship Award. What inspired the Citizenship Award? We wanted to encourage our junior students to get involved in the life of the school and develop core skills, as well as make new friends. It can be daunting starting at secondary school, so having a structured programme that provides opportunities for students to meet new people and develop new friendships can make the adjustment to school life much easier. They really feel part of the Strathallan community.
opportunities for students to get involved. As for the Expedition, our Year 7 students have already achieved their Bronze level for this component after taking part in a three-hour tramp at their recent camp in Raglan, and Year 8 students will take part in a four-hour tramp in the Hunua Ranges in Term 4. A fun day out with friends, a bit of physical exercise, and the Silver level of the award will be ticked off. For a Gold, students need to also complete a written component. What are the benefits of completing the award? The benefits are tremendous. The programme develops leadership skills by encouraging commitment, self-reliance and a sense of responsibility for others. The award provides students with a safe environment in which to learn new skills and challenge themselves, building confidence and self-esteem. It helps students become the best version of themselves. Citizenship education is about learning how people participate in society and how citizens interact with and shape their communities and societies. By promoting student participation in school life and the local community, we are playing our part in creating global citizens.
How does a student achieve an award? The programme is loosely based on the Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award offered to students in Years 10 to 13. As with the Duke of Ed, there are four components to the Citizenship Award: Participation, Skill, Service and Expedition. Year 7 and 8 students are required to complete each component over the course of a two-year period. What sort of activities can they be involved in? Students can participate in or contribute to a vast range of activities. The Skill section could be achieved by learning to knit or to play a new musical instrument, Participation could be achieved by joining a sports team or attending a school-hosted event like the Junior Social while Service could be planting trees with the Trees for Survival group or helping out at an Open Day. There are just so many
YEAR 7 AND 8 CITIZENSHIP AWARDS | LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE
Five Ways to Wellbeing The wellbeing of students has been at the front and centre of educational thinking for the past few years, especially in New Zealand as young people face increasing challenges in the modern world. New Zealand’s youth mental health statistics are concerning, with the percentage of young adults experiencing mental health issues increasing every year. At ACG Strathallan, it is crucial we develop a wellbeing programme that reflects New Zealand and its young people while also upholding our college values. This year, the Pastoral Care team is reviewing and reflecting on our current wellbeing programme. We want to be sure our programme is meaningful and sustainable and impacts positively on students. While research and development is under way, we are focusing on the Five Ways to Wellbeing in tutor groups. The Five Ways to Wellbeing is a universal wellbeing concept that looks at five key areas: Taking notice of the world around us, Connecting with each other, Giving back to others, Being active and Becoming life-long learners. In Term 1, our focus has been on gratitude, kindness and taking notice of our surroundings and of each other.
tutor group, there is a real family feel. Students also form a strong bond with their tutor teacher. A sense of community is developed among the group as students move through school together. This year, we changed the system slightly, separating Year 7 and 8 students into tutor groups of their own. This allows our youngest college students time to adjust to life on a large campus while being supported by a Year 7/8 tutor. It also enables a wellbeing programme to be specifically designed with age-appropriate content delivered in an engaging way that suits the younger age group. This year, we are embarking on our Citizenship Programme at the same time, meaning that tutor group time can be used to work on this stimulating project. Assistant Principal Alice Hamilton is the driving force behind developing the wellbeing programme and is excited about the benefits it will have for students. “It’s an incredibly exciting time for wellbeing at ACG Strathallan and I am very proud to be part of a college that takes the pastoral care of its students so seriously.”
The tutor group is important for students as they get to know each other and, since siblings belong to the same
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FIVE WAYS TO WELLBEING | WELLBEING
Preschool welcomes new manager This term, Angela Lunam joined the team at ACG Strathallan as our new preschool manager. She brings with her a significant range of experience in early childhood education from working in the field for over 20 years, with 14 years at her last job at TopKids Manuroa Road in Takanini. We spoke to Angela about her new role and her first impressions of the preschool. What drew you to the position at ACG Strathallan preschool? Because the school offers higher levels of education, I saw it as a great opportunity to develop strong relationships between all areas of the school, especially between preschool and primary. By collaborating across preschool and primary, children’s learning, social, physical and cultural needs are met and the learning they achieve in preschool can transfer and continue to be built on at school. Why is a preschool so important in a child’s life? The first five years are highly significant in a child’s development, and early childhood education builds on the learning your child is already gaining at home. With the right education and encouragement, children are more likely to be confident and curious about the world and become engaged learners later at school.
What were your first impressions of ACG Strathallan preschool? I really liked the feel of the preschool; it felt warm, inviting and a happy place to be. Most of the teaching staff are fully qualified ECE teachers and have a wealth of knowledge to share. They are professional and have warm caring relationships with the children. This was great to see! I was really impressed with the learning environment as there is a range of learning areas and resources for children to explore and discover. Are there any exciting plans for the future? We have a lot of exciting plans here at the preschool. We have already begun to put together goals to further complement the already successful learning programme we offer. Very soon we will be changing the colour of our foyer, which is very exciting. We are moving to a more subdued colour palette, offering a calming environment to better support children’s attention and concentration in their learning space. We will also be considering how to increase communication with our parents and whanau to develop more collaborative relationships to support children’s learning and development here at ACG Strathallan.
PRESCHOOL WELCOMES NEW MANAGER | LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE
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Sporting Prowess Anyone spending time at ACG Strathallan on any given day of any given week can see just how busy our campus is. As well as the very important learning that is going on in our classrooms, there are students conducting service, leading activities and participating in numerous clubs from debating to Lego and chess. Added to this are production and music rehearsals, subject tutorials as well as house events. But perhaps the busiest area of the school at the moment, aside from the classrooms, is the sports field, and this term seems to have been busier than ever. A typical week of sport at ACG Strathallan starts at 7am on Monday morning with the members of our running club doing drills on the field and running to the end of Hingaia Road and back. From then on we have all manner of sports practices and competitions going on, both on- and off-campus, from the 26-strong orienteering team competing on Monday evenings in the sprint series, Year 7 and 8 netball ‘Skills and Drills’ on Tuesday lunchtimes with Papakura Netball Centre, weekend triathlons, not to mention training sessions five times a week for our squad of 19 rowers. Add in the numerous competitions we have been involved in this term, including Gillette Cup cricket, Year 7 and 8 and Year 5 and 6 interschool competitions, Maadi Cup, equestrian and dressage events, Counties Zone swimming and athletics and the Auckland Champion of Champions for our swimmers and athletes, and it
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is little wonder some of our students arrive home exhausted but energised at the end of each day. Of course, this term has also seen trials for our winter sports teams, with training already happening in many of these codes, as well as some pre-season games. There has been a growing number of students interested in basketball, with four teams set to take part in competitions this year, and netball, football, hockey and badminton have also seen a growth in numbers. Our rugby team has had a confident start to the season with a 33–31 win against Papakura High School recently in their pre-season match, and we have had some incredible performances from students representing the school in both individual and team events in local, regional and national competitions. There is no doubt that when the school was established 18 years ago our initial focus was to establish a strong reputation for academic excellence and success, and while this continues to be a key priority we can very proudly say that we are also developing a strong reputation for sporting prowess. Our school motto of Pride in Achievement applies equally to all areas of a student’s involvement in school, and we will continue to be proud of all that our students achieve, both on and off the sports field.
SPORTING PROWESS | SPORT, ACTIVITIES & THE ARTS
HOW MANY STUDENTS? 17 Strathallan students rowed at this year’s Maadi Cup
HOW
HOW
FAST?
FAR?
32.88 seconds by Janaye Burns in the Junior Girls 50m Backstroke at the Counties Zone Swimming Champs; 11.04 seconds by George Kozlov in the Senior Boys 100m at the North Island Athletics Champs
8.84m by Niamh Baxter in the Junior Girls Triple Jump at Counties Zone Athletics.
HOW HIGH? 2.0m by Daniel Tilsley in the high jump on Athletics Day before going on to become Auckland Champion and then North Island Champion
HOW MANY
RECORDS? 10 records broken at our College Athletics Day, and 5 Junior Boys records broken by Luke O’Connor at our College Swimming Sports
SPORTING PROWESS | SPORT, ACTIVITIES & THE ARTS
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Student voice affects change Summer holidays at the college were busier than normal with builders, electricians and glaziers turning the ideas of a group of students into our newly refurbished cafeteria. House logos etched into the glass doors, the light airy space and colourful artwork all affirm that this is truly a space designed by students for students. Originally housing the school library, the cafeteria was a relatively small space, able to accommodate only a limited number of students. Given the numbers using the space each day it was time for a rethink. Initial plans drawn up by the architects involved extending the eating area out towards the quad by creating sliding doors along the windowed wall, leading out to a decked outdoor seating area. It was at this planning stage that we sought feedback from our students – after all, they are the ones who use the cafeteria the most. The students quite rightly questioned the functionality of the space, pointing out that for much of the year our blustery, rainy conditions would prevent them from using the outside seating area. Bearing students’ concerns in mind, the architects went back to the drawing board to see how their ideas could be accommodated. Initially, they considered covering the outdoor area, but after further deliberation they suggested moving in the opposite direction. The walls of the tunnelled corridor and sports office were removed and, as a result, the capacity has almost doubled. The cafeteria has become more than just an eating area. Students now gather around high café-style tables or sit on long benches, enjoying the space not just at break times but early in the morning and in the afternoons, often doing homework or just chatting. The walls are vibrantly decorated with high-quality printed student art, the school values are inscribed boldly on pillars and an inspirational quote reminds us all that “Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny”. The cafeteria has become a central hub that students can be proud of and clear proof that the student voice is definitely listened to at ACG Strathallan.
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STUDENT VOICE AFFECTS CHANGE | ENVIRONMENT FOR LEARNING
A Primary vision ACG Strathallan’s 10 strategic goals provide a clear direction and ensure our students receive a challenging, holistic education, underpinned by strong core values and exceptional pastoral care. This year, the Primary School is focusing on the development of three of these goals through a range of planned actions and programmes. Goal 1 - Student Wellbeing To provide students with exceptional pastoral care to nurture the development of the skills and qualities that will allow them to have positive self-worth and relationships based on trust and mutual respect. We have developed seven annual goals to help us achieve this strategic goal. These include the embedding of our fourth value, Compassion, into our curriculum and all aspects of school life, ensuring that students are supported through a comprehensive pastoral care system, providing a range of student leadership opportunities, utilising our peer support programmes, providing a range of class and school incentives and reward systems, and the introduction of the House System into the Primary School. Goal 2 - Academic Curriculum To provide students with a challenging and varied academic curriculum that prepares them for the future and equips them with the knowledge, skills and qualities to lead fulfilling lives. Our annual goals include the introduction of a learning coordinator to the Primary School and implementation of a Raising and Accelerating Achievement Plan to ensure all students meet their individual learning goals, the implementation of a range of learning support programmes, utilisation of teacher aides for learning support, and the implementation of Teacher Inquiry projects to further develop teaching and learning. Goal 3 - Sport, Activities, The Arts To provide students with a sport and activities programme that inspires them to want to engage in activities outside of the classroom so that they can develop particular skills and exhibit their non-academic abilities. Our annual goals include providing a variety of extra activities and lunchtime clubs that extend beyond the curriculum, specialist teaching within the performing arts (dance and drama) alongside our music programme, and extra opportunities to perform within dance, drama and music. This year, we have also appointed a Primary PE and Sports Coordinator to ensure our students experience a wide range of sports and have multiple opportunities to represent the school at interschool and/ or North Counties events in numerous sporting codes.
Kristie Thomas Primary Principal
A PRIMARY VISION | STRATEGIC DIRECTION
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A foundation for success
SCIENCE
Last year, ACG Strathallan students were involved in PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) 2018, and results published in January this year indicate that their abilities in reading, mathematics and science are well above the national average. These key subjects have long been considered important foundations, providing students with the knowledge and skills to support learning in all subject areas. This is why we have always placed great importance on literacy and numeracy in our academic programmes. PISA is an international research programme conducted every three years around the world, designed to provide OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries with crucial data on the state of their education system. Schools and students are randomly selected to be part of a representative sample and the PISA tests assess 15-year-old students’ abilities to ‘think like a scientist, reason like a mathematician and distinguish between good and bad arguments in written texts’.
MATHEMATICS
Over half a million 15-year-olds from 80 countries and economies took the PISA test in 2018, including 6000 students from across New Zealand. World statistics and results will be released later this year, but we have already been provided with results for the random sample of students from ACG Strathallan, along with statistics of how they compare to other students of the same age in New Zealand. Our learning programme at ACG Strathallan focuses on a much broader scope of learning than what is assessed in the PISA test but the key areas of numeracy, literacy and scientific thinking provide students with valuable knowledge and skills that support learning in all subject areas. Against a backdrop of declining PISA scores for New Zealand, our results make for promising reading and they reinforce our decision to offer a rigorous international curriculum.
READING
Danny O’Connor Executive Principal
*Shaded areas indicate range of statistical uncertainty
ACG Strathallan 0800 222 899 | T +64-9-295 0830 | E strathallan@acgedu.com Hayfield Way, RD1 Papakura, Auckland 2580, New Zealand